Kachina Doll
Arts of the Americas
On View: Arts of the Americas Galleries, 5th Floor
MEDIUM
Cottonwood root, acrylic paint, feathers, fur, hide, synthetic wool and yarn, painted canvas
DATES
1960-1970
DIMENSIONS
15 x 9 x 4 1/2 in. (38.1 x 22.9 x 11.4 cm)
(show scale)
SIGNATURE
On base : Angwysnasomtaka kachina Crow Mother kachina , (artist) Seona and crossed mark below the name
ACCESSION NUMBER
2010.6.2
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Edith and Hershel Samuels
RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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CAPTION
Seona. Kachina Doll, 1960-1970. Cottonwood root, acrylic paint, feathers, fur, hide, synthetic wool and yarn, painted canvas, 15 x 9 x 4 1/2 in. (38.1 x 22.9 x 11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Edith and Hershel Samuels, 2010.6.2. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2010.6.2_front_PS2.jpg)
IMAGE
front, 2010.6.2_front_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2009
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Crow Mother (Angwusnasomtake) kachina doll. Female figure carved from one piece of cottonwood root she leans slightly forward and holds both arms out carrying a bundle of sticks. Her headdress is large and dramatic with rayed feathers on either side of a bright blue helmet style mask with slender blue horns. The front of the mask has a large upside down, black triangle with a smaller one under it. Across the top and down the sides of the mask is a braided yellow and red yarn. There is a fur ruff around her neck. She wears a long dress made from cotton and trimmed with red and green yarn with a white braided yarn sash. She has a white, canvas mantle around her back and wears carved white boots. Crow Mother performs many roles and functions. She participates in the initiation blessings of children 10 - 15 years old, guides the whipper (punishment) Kachinas who are considered to be her children. Aggressive in temperament she is very active insuring that she will get attention and that her messages about the importance of the Kachina culture will be heard by the initiates. She appears during the Powamuya- purification ceremonies in February. Note the Kachina is portrayed by a man.
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